1.
Roman emperor
–
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
2.
Roman Empire
–
Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
3.
Septimius Severus
–
Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa, as a young man he advanced through the cursus honorum—the customary succession of offices—under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors, after deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia, later that year Severus waged a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province. Severus defeated Albinus three years later at the Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul, furthermore, he enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes, capturing their capital Garama, late in his reign he travelled to Britain, strengthening Hadrians Wall and reoccupying the Antonine Wall. In 208 he invaded Caledonia, but his ambitions were cut short when he fell ill in late 210. Severus died in early 211 at Eboracum, succeeded by his sons Caracalla, with the succession of his sons, Severus founded the Severan dynasty, the last dynasty of the empire before the Crisis of the Third Century. Born on 11 April 145 at Leptis Magna as the son of Publius Septimius Geta and Fulvia Pia, Septimius Severus came from a wealthy and he had Italian Roman ancestry on his mothers side and descended from Punic - and perhaps also Libyan - forebears on his fathers side. His mothers ancestors had moved from Italy to North Africa, they belonged to the gens Fulvia, Septimius Severus had two siblings, an older brother, Publius Septimius Geta, and a younger sister, Septimia Octavilla. Severuss maternal cousin was Praetorian prefect and consul Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, Septimius Severus grew up in the town of Leptis Magna. He spoke the local Punic language fluently, but he was educated in Latin and Greek. Little else is known of the young Severus education, but according to Cassius Dio the boy had been eager for education than he had actually got. Presumably Severus received lessons in oratory, at age 17 he gave his first public speech, sometime around 162 Septimius Severus set out for Rome seeking a public career. At the recommendation of his relative Gaius Septimius Severus, the emperor Marcus Aurelius granted him entry into the senatorial ranks, membership of the senatorial order was a prerequisite to attain positions within the cursus honorum and to gain entry into the Roman Senate. Nevertheless, it appears that Severus career during the 160s met with some difficulties and it is likely that he served as a vigintivir in Rome, overseeing road maintenance in or near the city, and he may have appeared in court as an advocate. At the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius he was the State Attorney, however, he omitted the military tribunate from the cursus honorum and had to delay his quaestorship until he had reached the required minimum age of 25. To make matters worse, the Antonine Plague swept through the capital in 166, with his career at a halt, Severus decided to temporarily return to Leptis, where the climate was healthier
4.
Macrinus
–
Macrinus was Roman Emperor from April 217 to 8 June 218. He reigned jointly with his young son Diadumenianus, Macrinus was by origin a Berber from Mauretania Caesariensis. A member of the class, he became the first emperor who did not hail from the senatorial class and was the first emperor from Mauretania. Before becoming emperor, Macrinus served under Emperor Caracalla as a praetorian prefect and he later conspired against Caracalla and had him murdered in a bid to protect his own life, succeeding him as emperor. His predecessors policies had left Romes coffers empty and the empire at war with several kingdoms, as emperor, Macrinus first attempted to enact reform to bring economic and diplomatic stability to Rome. While Macrinus diplomatic actions brought about peace with each of the individual kingdoms, Caracallas aunt Julia Maesa took advantage of the unrest and instigated a rebellion to have her fourteen-year-old grandson, Elagabalus, recognized as emperor. Macrinus was overthrown at the Battle of Antioch on 8 June 218, Macrinus fled the battlefield and tried to reach Rome, but was captured in Chaceldon and later executed in Cappadocia. He sent his son to the care of Artabanus V of Parthia, after Macrinus death the Senate declared him and his son enemies of Rome and had their names struck from the records and their images destroyed. Macrinus was born in Caesarea Mauretaniae in the Roman province of Mauretania to a family of Berber origins. He received an education which allowed him to ascend to the Roman political class, over the years he earned a reputation as a skilled lawyer and under Emperor Septimius Severus he became an important bureaucrat. Severus successor Caracalla later appointed him a prefect of the Praetorian Guard, while Macrinus probably enjoyed the trust of Emperor Caracalla, this may have changed when, according to tradition, it was prophesied that he would depose and succeed the emperor. Macrinus, fearing for his safety, resolved to have Caracalla murdered before he was condemned, in the spring of 217, Caracalla was in the eastern provinces preparing a campaign against the Parthian Empire. Macrinus was among his staff, as were members of the Praetorian Guard. In April, Caracalla went to visit a temple of Luna near the site of the battle of Carrhae and was accompanied only by his personal guard, which included Macrinus. On April 8, while traveling to the temple, Caracalla was stabbed to death by Justin Martialis, in the aftermath, Martialis was killed by one of Caracallas men. For two or three days, Rome remained without an emperor, by April 11, Macrinus had proclaimed himself emperor and taken for himself all of the imperial titles and powers, without waiting for the Senate. The army backed his claim as emperor and the Senate, so far away, was powerless to intervene, Macrinus never returned to Rome as emperor and remained based in Antioch for the duration of his reign. Macrinus was the first emperor to hail from the class, rather than the senatorial
5.
Publius Septimius Geta
–
Geta, was a Roman emperor who ruled with his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla from 209, when he was named Augustus like his brother who had held the title since 198. Severus died in 211, and although he intended for his sons to rule together, Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife Julia Domna. Geta was born in Rome, at a time when his father was only a provincial governor at the service of Emperor Commodus, conflicts between Geta and Caracalla were constant and often required the mediation of their mother. To appease his son, Septimius Severus gave Geta the title of Augustus in 209. During the campaign against the Britons in the early 3rd century CE, Septimius Severus entrusted Julia Domna with the role of counsellor, Caracalla acted as the emperors second in command, and administrative and bureaucratic duties were Getas responsibility. In reality, however, the rivalry and antipathy between the brothers did not abate, when Septimius Severus died in Eboracum in early 211, Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed joint emperors and returned to Rome. Their joint rule was a failure, later sources speculated that the brothers wished to split the empire in two halves. By the end of 211, the situation had become unbearable, Caracalla tried unsuccessfully to murder Geta during the festival of Saturnalia. Finally, on the 19th of December, Caracalla had his mother arrange a meeting with his brother in his mothers apartments. Following Getas assassination, Caracalla ordered his brothers name to be removed from all inscriptions, the now sole emperor also took the opportunity to get rid of his political enemies, on grounds of conspiracy. Cassius Dio stated that around 20,000 men and women were killed or proscribed during this time, very few marble portraits attributable to Geta survive to date, presumably due to the very thorough damnatio memoriae which resulted in the erasing of his images. However Roman coins with his image are plentiful, and can reflect how his father Septimius Severus, images of Geta and his older brother Caracalla cannot be well distinguished until the death of the father. Both sons were supposed to be presented as equally suitable heirs to the throne, on his coins Caracalla, who became Augustus in 197, was shown with a wreath of laurels, while Geta remained bareheaded until he himself became Augustus in 209. Between 209 and their fathers death in February 211, both brothers were shown as mature young men with a short full beard, ready to take over the empire. Septimia Severan dynasty family tree Dio Cassius lxxvii, Herodian iv. I, birley, Anthony R. Septimius Severus, The African Emperor
6.
Lugdunum
–
Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum was an important Roman city in Gaul. The city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus and it served as the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis and was an important city in the western half of the Roman Empire for centuries. Two emperors, Claudius and Caracalla, were born in Lugdunum, in the time period 69–192 AD the city population could be as large as 50,000 to 100,000. Even figures of up to 200,000 people are proposed by Albert Grenier, the original Roman city was situated west of the confluence of the Rhône and Saône, on the Fourvière heights. By the late centuries of the much of the population was located in the Saône River valley at the foot of Fourvière. The Roman city was founded as Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity, the city became increasingly referred to as Lugdunum by the end of the 1st century AD. During the Middle Ages, Lugdunum was transformed to Lyon by natural sound change, Lugdunum is a latinization of the Gaulish *Lugudunon, meaning Fortress of Lugus or, alternately Fortress of the champion. The Celtic god Lugus was apparently popular in Ireland and Britain as is found in medieval Irish literature as Lug and in medieval Welsh literature as Lleu. According to Pseudo-Plutarch, Lugdunum takes its name from an otherwise unattested Gaulish word lugos, that he says means raven, an early folk-etymology of Gaulish Lugduno as Desired Mountain, is recorded in a gloss in the 9th-century Endlichers Glossary. But this may in fact reflect a native Frankish speakers attempt at linking the first element of the name, Lugu- with the similar-sounding Germanic word for love, *luβ. Another early medieval folk-etymology of the name, found in gloss on the Latin poet Juvenal, connects the element Lugu- to the Latin word for light, lux and translates the name as Shining Hill. Archeological evidence shows Lugdunum was a settlement as far back as the neolithic era. It was situated on the Fourvière heights above the Saône river, there was trade with Campania for ceramics and wine, and use of some Italic-style home furnishings before the Roman conquest. Gaul was conquered for the Romans by Julius Caesar between 58 and 53 BC and his description, De Bello Gallico, is our principal written source of knowledge of pre-Roman Gaul, but there is no specific mention of this area. In 44 BC, ten years after the conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar was assassinated, Dio Cassius says this was to keep them from joining Mark Antony and bringing their armies into the developing conflict. Epigraphic evidence suggests Munatius Plancus was the founder of Lugdunum. Lugdunum seems to have had a population of several thousand at the time Roman foundation, the citizens were administratively assigned to the Galerian tribe. The aqueduct of the Monts dOr, completed around 20BC, was the first of at least four aqueducts supplying water to the city, within 50 years Lugdunum increased greatly in size and importance, becoming the administrative centre of Roman Gaul and Germany
7.
Fulvia Plautilla
–
Publia Fulvia Plautilla, Fulvia Plautilla or Plautilla was the only wife of the Roman emperor Caracalla, who was her paternal second cousin. After her father was condemned for treason, she was exiled, Plautilla was born and raised in Rome. She belonged to the gens Fulvia of ancient Rome, the Fulvius family was of plebeian origin, came from Tusculum, Italy and had been active in politics since the Roman Republic. Her mother was named Hortensia, her father was Gaius Fulvius Plautianus and she also had a brother, Gaius Fulvius Plautius Hortensianus. Severus and Plautianus arranged for Plautilla and Caracalla to be married in a ceremony in April 202. The forced marriage proved to be unhappy, Caracalla despised her. According to Cassius Dio, Plautilla had a profligate character, according to numismatic evidence, Plautilla bore Caracalla a daughter whose name is unknown in 204. On January 22,205 Gaius Fulvius Plautianus was executed for treachery, Plautilla and her daughter were exiled by Caracalla to Sicily and then to Lipari. They were treated harshly and were eventually strangled on Caracallas orders after the death of Septimius Severus on February 4,211. Coins bearing her image that have survived are mainly from the reign of her father-in-law and they are inscribed Plautilla Augusta or Plautillae Augustae. A marble bust of Fulvia Plautilla is in the Louvre, the Solinjanka or Salonitanka, meaning woman from the city of Solin, is one of the most important Roman portraits found in Croatia, believed to depict Plautilla at a young age. Originally found in Salona, it is now kept in the Archaeological museum in Zagreb
8.
Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
9.
Severan dynasty
–
The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. The dynasty was founded by the Roman general Septimius Severus, who rose to power as the victor of the 193-197 civil war and it was the last lineage of the Principate founded by Augustus. He rose through service to consular rank under the later Antonines. Severus fought a war against the Parthians and campaigned with success against barbarian incursions in Roman Britain. In Rome, his relations with the Senate were poor, but he was popular with the commoners, as with his soldiers, starting in 197, the influence of his Praetorian prefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus was a negative influence, the latter was executed in 205. One of Plautianuss successors was the jurist Aemilius Papinianus, Severus continued official persecution of Christians and Jews, as they were the only two groups who would not assimilate their beliefs to the official syncretistic creed. Severus died while campaigning in Britain and he was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, who reigned under the influence of their mother, Julia Domna. The eldest son of Severus, he was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in Lugdunum, Caracalla was a nickname referring to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore even when he slept. Upon his fathers death, Caracalla was proclaimed co-emperor with his brother Geta, conflict between the two culminated in the assassination of the latter. Reigning alone, Caracalla was noted for lavish bribes to the legionaries and unprecedented cruelty, authorizing numerous assassinations of perceived enemies and he campaigned with indifferent success against the Alamanni. The Baths of Caracalla in Rome are the most enduring monument of his rule and he was assassinated while en route to a campaign against the Parthians by a Praetorian Guard. Younger son of Severus, Geta was made co-emperor with his older brother Caracalla upon his fathers death, unlike the much more successful joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and his brother Lucius Verus in the previous century, relations were hostile between the two Severid brothers from the very start. Geta was assassinated in his mothers apartments by order of Caracalla, Opelius Macrinus was born in 164 at Caesarea Mauretaniae. On account of the cruelty and treachery of the emperor, Macrinus became involved in a conspiracy to kill him, on April 8,217, Caracalla was assassinated traveling to Carrhae. Three days later, Macrinus was declared Augustus and his most significant early decision was to make peace with the Parthians, but many thought that the terms were degrading to the Romans. However, his downfall was his refusal to award the pay and he also kept those forces wintered in Syria, where they became attracted to the young Elagabalus. After months of mild rebellion by the bulk of the army in Syria, despite a good fight by the Praetorian Guard, his soldiers were defeated. Macrinus managed to escape to Chalcedon but his authority was lost, M. Opelius Diadumenianus was the son of Macrinus, born in 208
10.
Julia Domna
–
Julia Domna, was a member of the Severan dynasty of the Roman Empire. Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of Emperors Geta and Caracalla, Julia Domna was born in Emesa in Syria. Her ancestors were Priest Kings of the temple of Elagabalus. The family had enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy, before her marriage, Julia inherited the estate of her paternal great-uncle Julius Agrippa, a former leading Centurion. In the late 180s, Julia married future emperor Septimius Severus and they had two sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus in 188 and Publius Septimius Geta in 189. Because of her love of philosophy, Julia protected philosophers and helped philosophy to flourish in Rome and she was an imperial woman from 193-217 CE as wife to the emperor Septimius Severus and mother to emperors Geta and Caracalla. Julia Domna died shortly after her son Caracalla was murdered, after Commodus was murdered without an heir in 192 CE, many contenders rushed for the throne. An elder senator, Pertinax, was appointed by the praetorian guard, when Pertinax would not meet the guards demands of payment, his son-in-law Iulianus was called to Rome. After bribing the guard, Iulianus was appointed emperor, and Pertinax was murdered, Septimius Severus, coming from the north into Rome, overthrew Iulianus and had him executed. Septimius claimed the title of emperor in 193, and co-ruled Rome with Clodius Albinus until 195 CE when Septimius declared his sons AVGVSTVS, Septimius remained at war with an eastern rival to the throne, Niger, until he defeated Nigers forces in 201 CE. Julia Domna and her sons accompanied Septimius in his campaigns in the East, the fire of Commodus in 192 CE destroyed areas of the aedes Vestae which includes the Temple of Vesta and the home, or Atrium, of the Vestal Virgins. Based on numismatic evidence, historical authors, and an inscription found in situ. As empress, Julia was often involved in intrigues and had plenty of political enemies, none of these accusations was proven. Severus continued to favour his wife and insisted on her company in the campaign against the Britons that started in 208, the two young men were never fond of each other and quarrelled frequently. Geta was murdered by Caracallas soldiers in the same year, Caracalla was now sole emperor, but his relations with his mother were difficult, as attested by several sources, probably because of his involvement in Getas murder. Nevertheless, Julia accompanied Caracalla in his campaign against the Parthian empire in 217, during this trip, Caracalla was assassinated and succeeded by Macrinus. Julia chose to commit suicide after hearing about the rebellion, perhaps a decision hastened by the fact that she was suffering from breast cancer and her body was brought to Rome and placed in the Sepulcrum C. et L. Caesaris. Later, however, both her bones and those of Geta were transferred by her sister Julia Maesa to the Mausoleum of Hadrian, if it were not for Julia, there would have survived little information about the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana
11.
Severan Tondo
–
The Severan Tondo, from circa AD200, is one of the few preserved examples of panel painting from Classical Antiquity. It is a tempera or egg-based painting on a wooden panel. At present, it is on display at the Antikensammlung Berlin, the panel depicts the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus with his family, to the left his wife Julia Domna, in front of them their sons Geta and Caracalla. All are wearing sumptuous ceremonial garments, Septimius Severus and his sons are also holding sceptres, getas face has been removed, probably after his murder by his brother Caracalla and the ensuing damnatio memoriae. With each change of emperor, they would have been discarded or replaced, since wood is an organic material and does not normally survive, the Berlin Tondo remains, so far, the only surviving specimen of this type of painting. It appears to be of Egyptian origin, originally, the tondo had most likely a square or rectangular shape. This is best visible at the scepters the males of the picture are holding, the upper parts once adorned with imperial symbols are today missing. It seems that it was cut in times for better selling it on the art market. Fayum mummy portraits Pitsa panels Antikenmuseum Berlin, Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer
12.
Elagabalus
–
Elagabalus /ˌɛləˈɡæbələs/, also known as Heliogabalus, was Roman emperor from 218 to 222. A member of the Severan dynasty, he was Syrian, the son of Julia Soaemias. In his early youth he served as a priest of the god Elagabal in the hometown of his mothers family, as a private citizen, he was probably named Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus. Upon becoming emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus and he was called Elagabalus only after his death. In 217, the emperor Caracalla was assassinated and replaced by his Praetorian prefect, Caracallas maternal aunt, Julia Maesa, successfully instigated a revolt among the Legio III Gallica to have her eldest grandson, Elagabalus, declared emperor in his place. Macrinus was defeated on 8 June 218 at the Battle of Antioch, Elagabalus, barely 14 years old, became emperor, initiating a reign remembered mainly for sex scandals and religious controversy. Later historians suggest Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and he replaced the traditional head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter, with the deity of whom he was high priest, Elagabalus. He forced leading members of Romes government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity and his behavior estranged the Praetorian Guard, the Senate, and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, Elagabalus, just 18 years old, was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander on 11 March 222, the plot was devised by his grandmother, Julia Maesa, and carried out by disaffected members of the Praetorian Guard. Elagabalus developed a reputation among his contemporaries for extreme eccentricity, decadence and this tradition has persisted, and with writers of the early modern age he suffers one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors. Edward Gibbon, for example, wrote that Elagabalus abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures, according to Barthold Georg Niebuhr, The name Elagabalus is branded in history above all others because of his unspeakably disgusting life. Elagabalus was born around the year 203 to Sextus Varius Marcellus and his father was initially a member of the Equites class, but was later elevated to the rank of senator. His grandmother, Julia Maesa, was the widow of the consul Julius Avitus, the sister of Julia Domna, and he had at least one sibling, an unnamed elder brother. His mother, Julia Soaemias, was a cousin of the Roman emperor Caracalla and his other relatives included his aunt Julia Avita Mamaea and uncle Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus and among their children, their son Severus Alexander. Elagabaluss family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun god Elagabal, the deity Elagabalus was initially venerated at Emesa. This form of the name is a Latinized version of the Syrian Ilāh hag-Gabal, which derives from Ilāh and gabal, resulting in the God of the Mountain. The cult of the deity spread to parts of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century. The god was later imported and assimilated with the Roman sun god known as Sol Indiges in republican times and as Sol Invictus during the second, in Greek the sun god is Helios, hence Heliogabalus, a hybrid conjunction of Helios and Elagabalus
13.
Alexander Severus
–
Severus Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235 and the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He and his cousin were both grandsons of the influential and powerful Julia Maesa, who had arranged for Elagabalus acclamation as emperor by the famous Third Gallic Legion and it was the rumor of Alexanders death that triggered the assassination of Elagabalus and his mother. As emperor, Alexanders peace time reign was prosperous, however, Rome was militarily confronted with the rising Sassanid Empire and growing incursions from the tribes of Germania. He managed to check the threat of the Sassanids, but when campaigning against Germanic tribes, Alexander attempted to bring peace by engaging in diplomacy and bribery. This alienated many in the Roman Army and led to a conspiracy to assassinate, under the influence of his mother, Alexander did much to improve the morals and condition of the people, and to enhance the dignity of the state. He employed noted jurists to oversee the administration of justice, such as the famous jurist Ulpian and his advisers were men like the senator and historian Cassius Dio, and it is claimed that he created a select board of 16 senators, although this claim is disputed. He also created a council of 14 who assisted the urban prefect in administering the affairs of the 14 districts of Rome. The following year he decreased the amount of metal in the denarius while adding more silver, raising the silver purity. In religious matters, Alexander preserved an open mind and it is said that he was desirous of erecting a temple to Jesus but was dissuaded by the pagan priests. He allowed a synagogue to be built in Rome, and he gave as a gift to this synagogue a scroll of the Torah known as the Severus Scroll, in legal matters, Alexander did much to aid the rights of his soldiers. He confirmed that soldiers could name anyone as heirs in their will, Alexander also confirmed that soldiers could free their slaves in their wills. On the whole, Alexanders reign was prosperous until the rise, in the east, of the war that followed there are various accounts. Making Antioch his base, he marched at the head of his troops towards Ctesiphon, but an army was destroyed by the Persians. Nevertheless, although the Sassanids were checked for the time, the conduct of the Roman army showed a lack of discipline. In 232 there was a mutiny in the Syrian legion, who proclaimed Taurinus emperor, Alexander managed to suppress the uprising, and Taurinus drowned while attempting to flee across the Euphrates. The emperor returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph in 233, after the Persian war, Alexander returned to Antioch with the famous Origen, one of the greatest Fathers of the Christian Church. Alexanders mother, Julia Mammaea, asked for Origen to tutor Alexander in Christianity, while Alexander was being educated in the Christian doctrines, the northern portion of his empire was being invaded by Germanic and Sarmatian tribes. A new and menacing enemy started to emerge directly after Alexanders success in the Persian war, in A. D234, the barbarians crossed the Rhine and Danube in hordes that even caused panic at the gates of Rome
14.
Year of the Five Emperors
–
The Year of the Five Emperors refers to the year 193 AD, in which there were five claimants for the title of Roman Emperor. The five were Pertinax, Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus and Septimius Severus and this year started a period of civil war where multiple rulers vied for the chance to become Caesar. The political unrest began with the murder of Commodus on New Year’s Eve 192 AD, once Commodus was assassinated, Pertinax was named emperor but immediately had aroused opposition from the Praetorian Guard. They plotted and carried out his assassination and he was only emperor for three months. Didius Julianus, who purchased the title of emperor from the Praetorian Guard, succeeded Pertinax, Severus was declared Caesar by the Senate but Pescennius Niger was hostile when he declared himself emperor. This started the war between Niger and Severus as both gathered troops and fought throughout the territory of the empire. Due to this war, Severus allowed Clodius Albinus, who he suspected as a threat to him and this move allowed him to concentrate on waging the war against Niger. Most historians count Severus and Albinus as two emperors even though they ruled simultaneously, the Severan dynasty was created out of the chaos of 193 AD. Commodus’ sane rule began to fail when a close advocate, Cleander, was assassinated and this made Commodus start to fear for his life. He dealt with this fear through massacre of the nobles and aristocracy and he began removing himself from his identity as ruler ideologically by resuming his birth name instead of keeping the names that his father gave him when he succeeded to imperial rule. His behavior decayed further as he became more paranoid and he planned a huge massacre in Rome for New Year’s Eve 192 AD, in which he killed many of the nobles so that he could become the sole consul. Three nobles, Eclectus, Marcia, and Laetus, trying to survive and save their lives, the assassins named Pertinax the new Caesar. The person who planned the murder of Commodus is still a debated topic, some sources name Pertinax as the mastermind of the assassination because he obtained imperial rule once Commodus was killed. The reason for this is that Pertinax’s enemies wanted to create enmity for Pertinax within Rome so they blamed him when they really had no idea who planned it, Pertinax gained his political clout by moving his way up the military ranks. He was proconsul of Africa, making him the first of several emperors who began their roles in Africa. Since most of the nobles had been murdered in the New Year’s Eve massacre, Pertinax had a tough road to climb when he became Caesar because Commodus left his regime with major financial difficulties. However, Pertinax had his own troubles right away when he was accused of planning the death of Commodus and he may also have been accused of the murder of Cleander, Commodus’ advocate, whose murder had triggered Commodus’ paranoia. Pertinax was a great contrast to Commodus and he was disciplined but lost the favor of the troops early since he took away all of the favors that Commodus gave them
15.
Crisis of the Third Century
–
The same number of men became accepted by the Roman Senate as emperor during this period and so became legitimate emperors. Later, Aurelian reunited the empire, the crisis ended with the ascension, the situation of the Roman Empire became dire in 235 AD, when emperor Alexander Severus was murdered by his own troops. Many Roman legions had been defeated during a campaign against Germanic peoples raiding across the borders, leading his troops personally, Alexander Severus resorted to diplomacy and paying tribute in an attempt to pacify the Germanic chieftains quickly. According to Herodian this cost him the respect of his troops, in the years following the emperors death, generals of the Roman army fought each other for control of the Empire and neglected their duties of defending the empire from invasion. Climate changes and a rise in sea levels ruined the agriculture of what is now the Low Countries forcing tribes to migrate, additionally, in 251, the Plague of Cyprian broke out, causing large-scale death, possibly weakened the ability of the Empire to defend itself. After the loss of Valerian in 260, the Roman Empire was beset by usurpers, the Roman provinces of Gaul, Britain and Hispania broke off to form the Gallic Empire. An invasion by a vast host of Goths was defeated at the Battle of Naissus in 268 or 269 and this victory was significant as the turning point of the crisis, when a series of tough, energetic soldier-emperors took power. Victories by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus over the two years drove back the Alamanni and recovered Hispania from the Gallic Empire. When Claudius died in 270 of the plague, Aurelian, who had commanded the cavalry at Naissus, succeeded him as the emperor and continued the restoration of the Empire. Aurelian reigned through the worst of the crisis, defeating the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Palmyrenes, the Persians, by late 274, the Roman Empire was reunited into a single entity, and the frontier troops were back in place. More than a century would pass before Rome again lost military ascendancy over its external enemies. However, dozens of formerly thriving cities, especially in the Western Empire, had ruined, their populations dispersed and, with the breakdown of the economic system. Major cities and towns, even Rome itself, had not needed fortifications for many centuries, finally, although Aurelian had played a significant role in restoring the Empires borders from external threat, more fundamental problems remained. Another issue was the size of the Empire, which made it difficult for a single autocratic ruler to effectively manage multiple threats at the same time. These continuing problems would be addressed by Diocletian, allowing the Empire to continue to survive in the West for over a century. Several emperors who rose to power through acclamation of their troops attempted to create stability by appointing their descendants as Caesar and these generally failed to maintain any form of coherence beyond one generation, although there were exceptions. Internally, the empire faced hyperinflation caused by years of coinage devaluation and this had started earlier under the Severan emperors who enlarged the army by one quarter and doubled the legionaries base pay. This resulted in runaway rises in prices, and by the time Diocletian came to power, some taxes were collected in kind and values were often notional in bullion or bronze coinage
16.
Severan Dynasty
–
The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235. The dynasty was founded by the Roman general Septimius Severus, who rose to power as the victor of the 193-197 civil war and it was the last lineage of the Principate founded by Augustus. He rose through service to consular rank under the later Antonines. Severus fought a war against the Parthians and campaigned with success against barbarian incursions in Roman Britain. In Rome, his relations with the Senate were poor, but he was popular with the commoners, as with his soldiers, starting in 197, the influence of his Praetorian prefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus was a negative influence, the latter was executed in 205. One of Plautianuss successors was the jurist Aemilius Papinianus, Severus continued official persecution of Christians and Jews, as they were the only two groups who would not assimilate their beliefs to the official syncretistic creed. Severus died while campaigning in Britain and he was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, who reigned under the influence of their mother, Julia Domna. The eldest son of Severus, he was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in Lugdunum, Caracalla was a nickname referring to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore even when he slept. Upon his fathers death, Caracalla was proclaimed co-emperor with his brother Geta, conflict between the two culminated in the assassination of the latter. Reigning alone, Caracalla was noted for lavish bribes to the legionaries and unprecedented cruelty, authorizing numerous assassinations of perceived enemies and he campaigned with indifferent success against the Alamanni. The Baths of Caracalla in Rome are the most enduring monument of his rule and he was assassinated while en route to a campaign against the Parthians by a Praetorian Guard. Younger son of Severus, Geta was made co-emperor with his older brother Caracalla upon his fathers death, unlike the much more successful joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and his brother Lucius Verus in the previous century, relations were hostile between the two Severid brothers from the very start. Geta was assassinated in his mothers apartments by order of Caracalla, Opelius Macrinus was born in 164 at Caesarea Mauretaniae. On account of the cruelty and treachery of the emperor, Macrinus became involved in a conspiracy to kill him, on April 8,217, Caracalla was assassinated traveling to Carrhae. Three days later, Macrinus was declared Augustus and his most significant early decision was to make peace with the Parthians, but many thought that the terms were degrading to the Romans. However, his downfall was his refusal to award the pay and he also kept those forces wintered in Syria, where they became attracted to the young Elagabalus. After months of mild rebellion by the bulk of the army in Syria, despite a good fight by the Praetorian Guard, his soldiers were defeated. Macrinus managed to escape to Chalcedon but his authority was lost, M. Opelius Diadumenianus was the son of Macrinus, born in 208
17.
Latin language
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
18.
Roman citizenship
–
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. A citizen could, under certain circumstances, be deprived of his citizenship. Roman women had a form of citizenship. Though held in high regard they were not allowed to vote or stand for civil or public office, the rich might participate in public life by funding building projects or sponsoring religious ceremonies and other events. Women had the right to own property, to engage in business, and to obtain a divorce, marriages were an important form of political alliance during the Republic. Client state citizens and allies of Rome could receive a form of Roman citizenship such as the Latin Right. Such citizens could not vote or be elected in Roman elections, slaves were considered property and lacked legal personhood. Over time, they acquired a few protections under Roman law, some slaves were freed by manumission for services rendered, or through a testamentary provision when their master died. Once free, they faced few barriers, beyond normal social snobbery, freedmen were former slaves who had gained their freedom. They were not automatically given citizenship and lacked some privileges such as running for executive magistracies, the children of freedmen and women were born as free citizens, for example, the father of the poet Horace was a freedman. The rights available to citizens of Rome varied over time, according to their place of origin. They also varied under Roman law according to the classification of the individual within the state, various legal classes were defined by the various combinations of legal rights that each class enjoyed. However, the rights available to citizens with whom Roman law addressed were, Ius suffragiorum. Ius honorum, The right to stand for civil or public office, Ius commercii, The right to make legal contracts and to hold property as a Roman citizen. The rights afforded by the ius gentium were considered to be held by all persons, Ius migrationis, The right to preserve ones level of citizenship upon relocation to a polis of comparable status. For example, members of the cives Romani maintained their full civitas when they migrated to a Roman colony with full rights under the law, latins also had this right, and maintained their ius Latii if they relocated to a different Latin state or Latin colony. The right of immunity from taxes and other legal obligations, especially local rules. The right to sue in the courts and the right to be sued, the right to have a legal trial
19.
Roman naming conventions
–
The distinguishing feature of Roman nomenclature was the use of both personal names and regular surnames. Throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, other ancient civilizations distinguished individuals through the use of personal names. Consisting of two elements, or themes, these names allowed for hundreds or even thousands of possible combinations. But a markedly different system of nomenclature arose in Italy, where the name was joined by a hereditary surname. Over time, this binomial system expanded to include additional names, the most important of these names was the nomen gentilicium, or simply nomen, a hereditary surname that identified a person as a member of a distinct gens. This was preceded by the praenomen, or forename, a name that served to distinguish between the different members of a family. The origin of this system is lost in prehistory, but it appears to have been established in Latium. In written form, the nomen was usually followed by a filiation, indicating the name of an individuals father. Toward the end of the Roman Republic, this was followed by the name of a citizens voting tribe, lastly, these elements could be followed by additional surnames, or cognomina, which could be either personal or hereditary, or a combination of both. The Roman grammarians came to regard the combination of praenomen, nomen, even then, not all Roman citizens bore cognomina, and until the end of the Republic the cognomen was regarded as somewhat less than an official name. Naming conventions for women also varied from the concept of the tria nomina. By the end of the Republic, the majority of Roman women either did not have or did not use praenomina, most women were called by their nomen alone, or by a combination of nomen and cognomen. For a variety of reasons, the Roman nomenclature system broke down in the following the collapse of imperial authority in the west. The praenomen had already become scarce in written sources during the fourth century, over the course of the sixth century, as Roman institutions and social structures gradually fell away, the need to distinguish between nomina and cognomina likewise vanished. By the end of the century, the people of Italy. But many of the names that had originated as part of the tria nomina were adapted to this usage, as in other cultures, the early peoples of Italy probably used a single name, which later developed into the praenomen. Marcus Terentius Varro wrote that the earliest Italians used simple names, names of this type could be honorific or aspirational, or might refer to deities, physical peculiarities, or circumstances of birth. In this early period, the number of personal names must have quite large
20.
Baths of Caracalla
–
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy, were the second largest Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD212 and 217, during the reigns of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. They would have had to install over 2,000 t of material every day for six years in order to complete it in this time. Records show that the idea for the baths were drawn up by Septimius Severus and this would allow for a longer construction timeframe. Today they are a tourist attraction, the baths remained in use until the 6th century when the complex was taken by the Ostrogoths during the Gothic War, at which time the hydraulic installations were destroyed. The bath was free and open to the public, the earthquake of 847 destroyed much of the building, along with many other Roman structures. The building was heated by a hypocaust, a system of burning coal and it was in use up to the 19th century. The Aqua Antoniniana aqueduct, a branch of the earlier Aqua Marcia and it was most likely reconstructed by Garbrecht and Manderscheid to its current place. At the 1960 Summer Olympics, the hosted the gymnastics events. The baths were the archaeological site in Rome damaged by an earthquake near LAquila in 2009. They were again damaged, though minor, in August 2016 by an earthquake in central Italy, the baths were originally ornamented with high quality sculptures. One of the statues is the colossal 4 m statue of Asclepius. The Caracalla bath complex of buildings was more a leisure centre than just a series of baths, the baths were the second to have a public library within the complex. Like other public libraries in Rome, there were two separate and equal sized rooms or buildings, one for Greek language texts and one for Latin language texts. The baths consisted of a central frigidarium measuring 55.7 by 24 m under three groin vaults 32.9 m high, a double pool tepidarium, and a caldarium 35 m in diameter, the north end of the bath building contained a natatio or swimming pool. The natatio was roofless with bronze mirrors mounted overhead to direct sunlight into the pool area, the entire bath building was on a raised platform 6 m high to allow for storage and furnaces under the building. The libraries were located in exedrae on the east and west sides of the bath complex, the entire north wall of the complex was devoted to shops. The reservoirs on the wall of the complex were fed with water from the Marcian Aqueduct. The mithraeum was approximately 23 m long and 10 m wide with a cross-vaulted ceiling, the bath complex covered approximately 25 ha
21.
Antoninianus
–
The Antoninianus, or radiate, was a coin used during the Roman Empire thought to have been valued at 2 denarii. It was initially silver, but was slowly debased to bronze with a silver content. Antoniniani depicting females, usually the wife, featured the bust resting upon a crescent moon. Even at its introduction the silver content was only equal to 1.5 denarii and this helped to create inflation, people rapidly hoarded the denarii, while both buyers and sellers recognised the new coin had a lower intrinsic value and elevated their prices to compensate. Each new issue of the Antoninianus thus had less silver in it than the last, in 271 Aurelian increased the average weight of the Antoninianus. This was carried out for a short time and this period was also when the enigmatic XXI was first marked on the reverse of the Antoninianus. The true meaning of this series of numbers is still a topic of debate, by the late 3rd century the coins were almost entirely made of bronze from melted down old issues like the sestertius. Vast quantities were being minted, with a proportion of the stocks being contemporary forgeries, often with blundered legends. Individual coins were by then practically worthless and were lost or discarded by the millions, today most of these coins are extremely common finds, with a few more scarce examples including Aemilianus, Marcus Aurelius Marius, Quietus and Regalianus. The situation was not unlike the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic in 1920s Germany, the coin ceased to be used by the end of the 3rd century when a series of coinage reforms attempted to arrest the decline by issuing new types. Modern numismatists use this name for the coin because it is not known what it was called in antiquity, an ancient Roman document called the Historia Augusta refers to silver coins named after an Antoninus on several occasions
22.
Parthian Empire
–
The Parthian Empire, also known as the Arsacid Empire, was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran and Iraq. Mithridates I of Parthia greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids, at its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce. The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, the court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of government shifted from Nisa to Ctesiphon along the Tigris. The earliest enemies of the Parthians were the Seleucids in the west, however, as Parthia expanded westward, they came into conflict with the Kingdom of Armenia, and eventually the late Roman Republic. Rome and Parthia competed with other to establish the kings of Armenia as their subordinate clients. The Parthians soundly defeated Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, however, Mark Antony led a counterattack against Parthia, although his successes were generally achieved in his absence, under the leadership of his lieutenant Ventidius. Also, various Roman emperors or their appointed generals invaded Mesopotamia in the course of the several Roman-Parthian Wars which ensued during the few centuries. The Romans captured the cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon on multiple occasions during these conflicts, native Parthian sources, written in Parthian, Greek and other languages, are scarce when compared to Sassanid and even earlier Achaemenid sources. These include mainly Greek and Roman histories, but also Chinese histories, Parthian artwork is viewed by historians as a valid source for understanding aspects of society and culture that are otherwise absent in textual sources. The Parni most likely spoke an eastern Iranian language, in contrast to the northwestern Iranian language spoken at the time in Parthia, the latter was a northeastern province, first under the Achaemenid, and then the Seleucid empires. Why the Arsacid court retroactively chose 247 BC as the first year of the Arsacid era is uncertain, Bivar concludes that this was the year the Seleucids lost control of Parthia to Andragoras, the appointed satrap who rebelled against them. Hence, Arsaces I backdated his regnal years to the moment when Seleucid control over Parthia ceased, however, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis asserts that this was simply the year Arsaces was made chief of the Parni tribe. It is unclear who immediately succeeded Arsaces I, Bivar and Katouzian affirm that it was his brother Tiridates I of Parthia, who in turn was succeeded by his son Arsaces II of Parthia in 211 BC. Yet Curtis and Brosius state that Arsaces II was the successor of Arsaces I, with Curtis claiming the succession took place in 211 BC. Bivar insists that 138 BC, the last regnal year of Mithridates I, is the first precisely established regnal date of Parthian history, due to these and other discrepancies, Bivar outlines two distinct royal chronologies accepted by historians
23.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
–
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a British cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle The History of the Kings of Britain and it was credited, uncritically, well into the 16th century, but is now considered historically unreliable. Geoffrey was probably some time between 1100 and 1110 in Wales or the Welsh Marches. He must have reached the age of majority by 1129, when he is recorded as witnessing a charter. In his Historia, Geoffrey refers to himself as Galfridus Monemutensis, Geoffrey of Monmouth, which indicates a significant connection to Monmouth, Wales, Geoffreys works attest to some acquaintance with the place-names of the region. To contemporaries, Geoffrey was known as Galfridus Artur or variants thereof, the Arthur in these versions of his name may indicate the name of his father, or a nickname based on Geoffreys scholarly interests. Earlier scholars assumed that Geoffrey was Welsh or at least spoke Welsh and it has been argued, by Frank Stenton among others, that Geoffreys parents may have been among the many Bretons who took part in William Is Conquest and settled in the southeast of Wales. Monmouth had been in the hands of Breton lords since 1075 or 1086 and he may have served for a while in a Benedictine priory in Monmouth, but most of his adult life appears to have been spent outside Wales. Between 1129 and 1151 his name appears on six charters in the Oxford area and he was probably a secular canon of St. Georges college. All the charters signed by Geoffrey are also signed by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, another frequent co-signatory is Ralph of Monmouth, a canon of Lincoln. On 24 February 1152, at Lambeth, Archbishop Theobald consecrated Geoffrey as Bishop of St Asaph, there is no evidence that he ever visited his see, writes Lewis Thorpe, and indeed the wars of Owain Gwynedd make this most unlikely. He appears to have died between 25 December 1154 and 24 December 1155, in 1155 according to Welsh chronicles, when his apparent successor, Richard, Geoffrey wrote several works of interest, all in Latin, the language of learning and literature in Europe during the medieval period. His major work was The History of the Kings of Britain, modern historians have dismissed this claim. The History of the Kings of Britain is now acknowledged as a work of national myth containing little reliable history. Other contemporaries were similarly unconvinced by Geoffreys History, Geoffreys major work was nevertheless widely disseminated across the whole of Medieval Western Europe, Acton Griscom listed 186 extant manuscripts in 1929, and others have been identified since. Where it was accepted as a true account. It consists of a series of obscure prophetic utterances attributed to Merlin, the Historys effect on the legend of King Arthur was so vast that Arthurian works have been categorised as pre- or post-Galfridian depending on whether or not they were influenced by him. The third work attributed to Geoffrey is another hexameter poem Vita Merlini, the story is set long after the timeframe of the Historys Merlin, but the author tries to synchronise the works with references to the mad prophets previous dealings with Vortigern and Arthur
24.
Louis XVI of France
–
Louis XVI, born Louis-Auguste, was the last King of France and Navarre before the French Revolution, during which he was also known as Louis Capet. In 1765, at the death of his father, Louis, Dauphin of France, son and heir apparent of Louis XV of France, Louis XVI was guillotined on 21 January 1793. The first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform France in accordance with Enlightenment ideas and these included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the taille, and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics. The French nobility reacted to the reforms with hostility. Louis implemented deregulation of the market, advocated by his liberal minister Turgot. In periods of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt, from 1776, Louis XVI actively supported the North American colonists, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain, which was realized in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. The ensuing debt and financial crisis contributed to the unpopularity of the Ancien Régime and this led to the convening of the Estates-General of 1789. In 1789, the storming of the Bastille during riots in Paris marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Louiss indecisiveness and conservatism led some elements of the people of France to view him as a symbol of the tyranny of the Ancien Régime. The credibility of the king was deeply undermined, and the abolition of the monarchy, Louis XVI was the only King of France ever to be executed, and his death brought an end to more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy. Louis-Auguste de France, who was given the title Duc de Berry at birth, was born in the Palace of Versailles. Out of seven children, he was the son of Louis, the Dauphin of France. His mother was Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. A strong and healthy boy, but very shy, Louis-Auguste excelled in his studies and had a taste for Latin, history, geography, and astronomy. He enjoyed physical activities such as hunting with his grandfather, and rough-playing with his brothers, Louis-Stanislas, comte de Provence. From an early age, Louis-Auguste had been encouraged in another of his hobbies, locksmithing, upon the death of his father, who died of tuberculosis on 20 December 1765, the eleven-year-old Louis-Auguste became the new Dauphin. His mother never recovered from the loss of her husband, and died on 13 March 1767, throughout his education, Louis-Auguste received a mixture of studies particular to religion, morality, and humanities. His instructors may have also had a hand in shaping Louis-Auguste into the indecisive king that he became
25.
Antoninus Pius
–
Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors in the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and he died of illness in 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as co-emperors. He was born as the child of Titus Aurelius Fulvus. The Aurelii Fulvii were therefore a new senatorial family from Gallia Narbonensis whose rise to prominence was supported by the Flavians. The link between Antoninus family and their home province explains the importance of the post of Proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis during the late Second Century. Antoninus was born near Lanuvium and his mother was Arria Fadilla, the Arrii Antoninii were an older senatorial family from Italy, very influential during Nervas reign. Arria Fadilla, Antoninus mother, married afterwards Publius Julius Lupus, a man of rank, suffect consul in 98. Some time between 110 and 115, Antoninus married Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder and they are believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was the daughter of consul Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina, Faustina was a beautiful woman, and despite rumours about her character, it is clear that Antoninus cared for her deeply. Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters and they were, Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus, his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome and his name appears on a Greek Imperial coin. Aurelia Fadilla, she married Lucius Lamia Silvanus, consul 145 and she appeared to have no children with her husband and her sepulchral inscription has been found in Italy. Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger, a future Roman Empress, married her maternal cousin, when Faustina died in 141, Antoninus was greatly distressed. In honour of her memory, he asked the Senate to deify her as a goddess and he had various coins with her portrait struck in her honor. These coins were scripted ‘DIVA FAUSTINA’ and were elaborately decorated and he further created a charity which he founded and called it Puellae Faustinianae or Girls of Faustina, which assisted destitute girls of good family. Finally, Antoninus created a new alimenta, instead, he lived with Galena Lysistrata, one of Faustinas freed women. Concubinage was a form of female companionship sometimes chosen by powerful men in Ancient Rome, especially widowers like Vespasian and their union could not produce any legitimate offspring who could threaten any heirs, such as those of Antoninus. Also, as one could not have a wife and a concubine at the same time
26.
Marcus Aurelius
–
Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus death in 169, Marcus Aurelius was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. He was a practitioner of Stoicism, and his untitled writing, during his reign, the Roman Empire defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire in the East, Aurelius general Avidius Cassius sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately, the major sources for the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently unreliable. For Marcus life and rule, the biographies of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus and Lucius Verus are largely reliable, a body of correspondence between Marcus tutor Fronto and various Antonine officials survives in a series of patchy manuscripts, covering the period from c.138 to 166. Marcus own Meditations offer a window on his life, but are largely undateable. The main narrative source for the period is Cassius Dio, a Greek senator from Bithynian Nicaea who wrote a history of Rome from its founding to 229 in eighty books. Dio is vital for the history of the period, but his senatorial prejudices. Inscriptions and coin finds supplement the literary sources, Marcus family originated in Ucubi, a small town southeast of Córdoba in Iberian Baetica. Verus elder son—Marcus Aurelius father—Marcus Annius Verus married Domitia Lucilla, Lucilla was the daughter of the patrician P. Calvisius Tullus Ruso and the elder Domitia Lucilla. The elder Domitia Lucilla had inherited a fortune from her maternal grandfather and her paternal grandfather by adoption. Lucilla and Verus had two children, a son, Marcus, born on 26 April 121 AD, and a daughter, Annia Cornificia Faustina, Verus probably died in 124 AD, during his praetorship, when Marcus was only three years old. Though he can hardly have known him, Marcus Aurelius wrote in his Meditations that he had learned modesty and manliness from his memories of his father, Lucilla, following prevailing aristocratic customs, probably did not spend much time with her son. Marcus was in the care of nurses, even so, Marcus credits his mother with teaching him religious piety, simplicity in diet and how to avoid the ways of the rich. In his letters, Marcus makes frequent and affectionate reference to her, he was grateful that, although she was fated to die young, yet she spent her last years with me. After his fathers death, Aurelius was raised by his paternal grandfather Marcus Annius Verus who, technically this was not an adoption, since an adoption would be the legal creation of a new and different patria potestas. Another man, Lucius Catilius Severus, also participated in his upbringing, Severus is described as Marcus maternal great-grandfather, he is probably the stepfather of the elder Lucilla. Marcus was raised in his parents home on the Caelian Hill and it was an upscale region, with few public buildings but many aristocratic villas
27.
Gaul
–
It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, capacity, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants, Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish. The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, also unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river
28.
Gladiator
–
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena, most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death. Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Romes martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious, the origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC and its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games. The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years, reaching their peak between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. The games finally declined during the early 5th century after the adoption of Christianity as state church of the Roman Empire in 380, early literary sources seldom agree on the origins of gladiators and the gladiator games. In the late 1st century BC, Nicolaus of Damascus believed they were Etruscan, a generation later, Livy wrote that they were first held in 310 BC by the Campanians in celebration of their victory over the Samnites. This was accepted and repeated in most early modern, standard histories of the games, reappraisal of pictorial evidence supports a Campanian origin, or at least a borrowing, for the games and gladiators. Campania hosted the earliest known gladiator schools, tomb frescoes from the Campanian city of Paestum show paired fighters, with helmets, spears and shields, in a propitiatory funeral blood-rite that anticipates early Roman gladiator games. Compared to these images, supporting evidence from Etruscan tomb-paintings is tentative, the Paestum frescoes may represent the continuation of a much older tradition, acquired or inherited from Greek colonists of the 8th century BC. This is described as a munus, a duty owed the manes of a dead ancestor by his descendants. The war in Samnium, immediately afterwards, was attended with equal danger, the enemy, besides their other warlike preparation, had made their battle-line to glitter with new and splendid arms. There were two corps, the shields of the one were inlaid with gold, of the other with silver, the Dictator, as decreed by the senate, celebrated a triumph, in which by far the finest show was afforded by the captured armour. His plain Romans virtuously dedicate the magnificent spoils of war to the Gods and their Campanian allies stage a dinner entertainment using gladiators who may not be Samnites, but play the Samnite role. Other groups and tribes would join the cast list as Roman territories expanded, most gladiators were armed and armoured in the manner of the enemies of Rome. The munus became a morally instructive form of historic enactment in which the only option for the gladiator was to fight well. In 216 BC, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, late consul and augur, was honoured by his sons with three days of gladiatora munera in the Forum Romanum, using pairs of gladiators
29.
Lyon
–
Lyon or Lyons is a city in east-central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, about 470 km from Paris and 320 km from Marseille. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais, Lyon had a population of 506,615 in 2014 and is Frances third-largest city after Paris and Marseille. Lyon is the capital of the Metropolis of Lyon and the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the metropolitan area of Lyon had a population of 2,237,676 in 2013, the second-largest in France after Paris. The city is known for its cuisine and gastronomy and historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. It played a significant role in the history of cinema, Auguste, the city is also known for its famous light festival, Fête des Lumières, which occurs every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights. Economically, Lyon is a centre for banking, as well as for the chemical, pharmaceutical. The city contains a significant software industry with a focus on video games. Lyon hosts the headquarters of Interpol, Euronews, and International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon was ranked 19th globally and second in France for innovation in 2014 and it ranked second in France and 39th globally in Mercers 2015 liveability rankings. These refugees had been expelled from Vienne by the Allobroges and were now encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers, dio Cassius says this task was to keep the two men from joining Mark Antony and bringing their armies into the developing conflict. The Roman foundation was at Fourvière hill and was officially called Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity, the city became increasingly referred to as Lugdunum. The earliest translation of this Gaulish place-name as Desired Mountain is offered by the 9th-century Endlicher Glossary, in contrast, some modern scholars have proposed a Gaulish hill-fort named Lugdunon, after the Celtic god Lugus, and dúnon. It then became the capital of Gaul, partly due to its convenient location at the convergence of two rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul. Two emperors were born in city, Claudius, whose speech is preserved in the Lyon Tablet in which he justifies the nomination of Gallic senators. Today, the archbishop of Lyon is still referred to as Primat des Gaules, the Christians in Lyon were martyred for their beliefs under the reigns of various Roman emperors, most notably Marcus Aurelius and Septimus Severus. Local saints from this period include Blandina, Pothinus, and Epipodius, in the second century AD, the great Christian bishop of Lyon was the Easterner, Irenaeus. Burgundian refugees fleeing the destruction of Worms by the Huns in 437 were re-settled by the commander of the west, Aëtius. This became the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom in 461, in 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon, with the country beyond the Saône, went to Lothair I
30.
Augustus (honorific)
–
Augustus, /ɔːˈɡʌstəs/, Classical Latin, Latin for majestic, the increaser, or venerable), was an ancient Roman title given as both name and title to Gaius Octavius, Romes first Emperor. On his death, it became a title of his successor. The feminine form Augusta was used for Roman empresses and other females of the Imperial family, the masculine and feminine forms originated in the time of the Roman Republic, in connection with things considered divine or sacred in traditional Roman religion. In Romes Greek-speaking provinces, Augustus was translated as sebastos, or hellenised as augoustos, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Augustus was sometimes used as a name for men of aristocratic birth, especially in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. It remains a name for males. Some thirty years before its first association with Caesars heir, Augustus was an honorific with religious associations. One early context, associates it with provincial Lares, in poetry and prose it was the elevation or augmentation of what is already sacred or religious. Some Roman sources connected it to augury, and Rome was said to have been founded with the august augury of Romulus, the first true Roman Emperor known as augustus was Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. He was the son and heir of Julius Caesar, who had been murdered for his seeming aspiration to divine monarchy. Octavian studiously avoided any association with Caesars claims, other than acknowledging his position and duties as Divi filius, nevertheless, his position was unique, and extraordinary. He had ended Romes prolonged and bloody war with his victory at Actium. As princeps senatus he presided at senatorial meetings and he was pontifex maximus, chief priest of Roman state religion. He held consular imperium, with authority equal to the chief executive, he was supreme commander of all Roman legions. As a tribune, his person was inviolable and he had the right to any act or proposal by any magistrate within Rome. He was officially renamed Augustus by the Roman Senate on January 16,27 BC – or perhaps the Senate ratified his own choice, Romulus had been considered. His full and official title was Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus and this extension of an Imperial honorific to major and minor deities of Rome and her provinces is considered a ground-level feature of Imperial cult. It continued until the replacement of Romes traditional religions by Christianity. The title or name of Augustus was adopted by his successors, most emperors also used imperator but others could and did bear the same title and functions
31.
Gaius Fulvius Plautianus
–
Gaius or Lucius Fulvius Plautianus was a member of the Roman gens Fulvia. Plautianus was originally from Leptis Magna, southeast of Carthage and he was a maternal cousin and long-time friend of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus. Plautianus father was another Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, born c,130, whose sister, Fulvia Pia, was married to Severus father Publius Septimius Geta. Plautianus was Praefectus vigilum from 193 to 197, Plautianus was appointed praetorian prefect of the Praetorian Guard in 197. Due to their friendship, Severus rewarded Plautianus with various honors, including a consular insignia, a seat in the Roman Senate, during his consulship, Plautianus image was minted on coins along with Severus second son Publius Septimius Geta. He assisted Severus in administering the empire and became very wealthy, Severus made him his second in command. In 202, Plautianus married his daughter Publia Fulvia Plautilla to Caracalla in Rome, Plautianus became so powerful that Roman Empress Julia Domna and Caracalla began to be concerned. The marriage between Caracalla and Publia Fulvia Plautilla was not a happy one, in fact, Caracalla loathed both her and her father, threatening to kill them after becoming sole emperor. When Plautianus discovered this, he plotted to overthrow Severus family, when Plautianus treachery was discovered, the imperial family summoned him to the palace and ordered his death on 22 January 205. His son, daughter and granddaughter were strangled on Caracallas orders in early 212
32.
Eboracum
–
Eboracum was a fort and city in the Roman province of Britannia. In its prime it was the largest town in northern Britain, the site remained occupied after the decline of the Roman Empire and ultimately evolved into the present-day city York, occupying the same site in North Yorkshire, England. Two Roman emperors died in Eboracum, Septimius Severus in 211 AD, and Constantius Chlorus in 306 AD. The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated c. 95–104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the name, Eburaci. During the Roman period, the name was written in the form Eboracum and Eburacum. The etymology of Eboracum is uncertain as the language of the population of the area was never recorded. However, the accepted view of British history, is that the inhabitants of Britain at this time spoke a Celtic language related to modern Welsh. This language has been reconstructed from Latin place names and modern Celtic languages, the name Eboracum is thought to have derived from the Common Brythonic Iburakon which probably means place of the yew trees. The word for yew was probably something like *ibura in Celtic, the name is then thought to have been Latinized by replacing -acon with -acum, according to a common use noted in Gaul and Lusitania. The different Évry, Ivry, Ivrey, Ivory in France would all come from *Eboracum / *Eboriacum, for example, Ivry-la-Bataille, Ivry-le-Temple Évry, the Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 AD but advance beyond the Humber did not take place until the early 70s AD. This was because the people in the known as the Brigantes by the Romans became a Roman client state. When their leadership changed becoming more hostile to Rome, Roman General Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the Ninth Legion north from Lincoln across the Humber. Eboracum was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a fortress on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. In the same year Cerialis was appointed Governor of Britain, a legion at full strength at that time numbered some 5,500 men, and provided new trading opportunities for enterprising local people, who doubtless flocked to Eboracum to take advantage of them. As a result, permanent civilian settlement grew up around the fortress especially on its south-east side, civilians also settled on the opposite side of the Ouse, initially along the main road from Eboracum to the south-west. By the later 2nd century, growth was rapid, streets were laid out, public buildings were erected, from its foundation the Roman fort of Eboracum was aligned on a north-east/south-east bearing on the north bank of the River Ouse. It measured 1,600 pes monetalis by 1,360 pes monetalis, the standard suit of streets running through the castra is assumed, although some evidence exists for the via praetoria, via decumana and via sagularis. Much of the understanding of the Fortress defences has come from extensive excavations undertaken by Leslie Peter Wenham
33.
York
–
York is a historic walled city at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The municipality is the county town of Yorkshire to which it gives its name. The city has a heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events in England throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city offers a wealth of attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent. The city was founded by the Romans as Eboracum in 71 AD and it became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jórvík. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England. In the 19th century, York became a hub of the railway network, in recent decades, the economy of York has moved from being dominated by its confectionery and railway-related industries to one that provides services. The University of York and health services have become major employers, from 1996, the term City of York describes a unitary authority area which includes rural areas beyond the old city boundaries. In 2011 the urban area had a population of 153,717, the word York derives from the Latinised name for the city, variously rendered as Eboracum, Eburacum or Eburaci. The first mention of York by this name is dated to circa 95–104 AD as an address on a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda in Northumberland, the toponymy of Eboracum is uncertain because the language of the pre-Roman indigenous population was never recorded. They are thought to have spoken a Celtic language related to modern Welsh, in his Historia Regum Britanniae the 12th century chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth, suggests the name derives from that of a pre-Roman city founded by the legendary king Ebraucus. Alternatively, the word already existed as an Old English word for wild swine. The Anglo-Saxon newcomers probably interpreted the part as eofor, and -rac as ric, while -um was a common abbreviation of the Saxon -heem. To them, it sounded as a home rich in boar, as is common in Saxon place names, the -um part gradually faded, eoforic. When the Danish army conquered the city in 866, its name became Jórvík, the Old French and Norman name of the city following the Norman Conquest was recorded as Everwic in works such as Waces Roman de Rou. The form York was first recorded in the 13th century, many company and place names, such as the Ebor race meeting, refer to the Roman name. The Archbishop of York uses Ebor as his surname in his signature, archaeological evidence suggests that Mesolithic people settled in the region of York between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known whether their settlements were permanent or temporary. By the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, the area was occupied by a known to the Romans as the Brigantes
34.
Scotland during the Roman Empire
–
Scotland during the Roman Empire refers to the protohistorical period during which the Roman Empire interacted with the area that is now Scotland, which was known to them as Caledonia. Roman legions arrived around AD71, having conquered the Celtic tribes of Britain over the three decades. Aiming to annex all of the island of Albion, Romans under Q, Julius Agricola invaded the Caledonians in the 70s and 80s. An account by Agricolas son-in-law Tacitus mentions a Roman victory at Mons Graupius which became the namesake of the Grampians but has been questioned by modern scholarship and this line was fortified as Hadrians Wall. Several Roman commanders attempted to conquer lands north of this line. The history of the period is complex and not well-documented, the province of Valentia, for instance, may have been the lands between the two Roman walls, or the territory around and south of Hadrians Wall, or Roman Wales. Romans held most of their Caledonian territory only a little over 40 years, some Scottish historians such as Moffat go so far as to say Romes presence was entirely uninfluential. Scots and Scotland proper would not emerge as unified ideas until centuries later, the Scoti, Gaelic Irish raiders who would give Scotland its English name, had begun to settle along the west coast as well. All three groups may have involved in the Great Conspiracy that overran Roman Britain in 367. The era also saw the emergence of the earliest historical accounts of the natives, the most enduring legacies of Rome, however, were Christianity and literacy, both of which arrived indirectly via Irish missionaries. Scotland had been inhabited for thousands of years before the Romans arrived, however, it is only during the Greco-Roman period that Scotland is recorded in writing. The work On the Cosmos by Aristotle or Pseudo-Aristotle mentions two very large islands called Albion and Ierne, the Greek explorer and geographer Pytheas visited Britain sometime between 322 and 285 BC and may have circumnavigated the mainland, which he describes as being triangular in shape. In his work On the Ocean, he refers to the most northerly point as Orcas, pomponius Mela, the Roman geographer, recorded in his De Chorographia, written around AD43, that there were 30 Orkney islands and seven Haemodae. There is certainly evidence of an Orcadian connection with Rome prior to AD60 from pottery found at the broch of Gurness. By the time of Pliny the Elder, Roman knowledge of the geography of Scotland had extended to the Hebudes, Dumna, the Caledonian Forest, and the Caledonians. His information becomes much less reliable in the north and west, famously, his coördinates place most of Scotland north of Hadrians Wall bent at a right angle, stretching due eastward from the rest of Britain. It is likely all of these cultures spoke a form of Celtic language known as Pritennic. The occupants of southern Scotland were the Damnonii in the Clyde valley, the Novantae in Galloway, the Selgovae on the south coast and these peoples may have spoken a form of Brythonic language
35.
Roman invasion of Caledonia 208-210
–
The Roman invasion of Caledonia launched in 208 by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The invasion lasted until late 210 when the emperor became ill and he reoccupied many forts built by Agricola over 100 years previously, following the Battle of Mons Graupius, and crippled the ability of the Caledonians to raid Roman Britain. The invasion was abandoned by Severus son Caracalla and Roman forces once again withdrew to Hadrians Wall, the cause of Severus invasion of Caledonia was a massive increase in raids and attacks on Roman Britain. This was possible because in 195 Clodius Albinus, the Roman Governor of Britain, had led most of the British legions into Gaul during his revolt against Severus. Severus had sent them back to their posts after defeating Albinus and this left Hadrians Wall undermanned and made it easy for the Caledonians to raid into Roman Britain. The Caledonians were also able to more men for these raids than before as there is evidence of increased cooperation among the different northern tribes. In 208 Severus arrived in Britain with around 40,000 men, once at Hadrians Wall Severus initiated a massive rebuilding project which finally made the whole wall into stone, this led to later Romans calling Hadrians Wall the Severan Wall. After starting the project Severus marched north and occupied all the land between Hadrians Wall and the Antonine Wall, after completing the occupation Severus began another reconstruction project but this time on the Antonine Wall. In 209 Severus led his army north into the highlands and roughly marched the same way Agricola had invaded over 100 years before, Severus suffered heavy casualties due to the guerrilla tactics used by the Caledonians. Because of this Severus began a plan of holding all the territory he could by the reoccupation of many of Agricolas old forts. This led to many of the tribes attempting to reach a agreement with Severus because of fear of extinction through Roman genocide. Peace talks failed and it looked as if the war would continue all the tribes had submitted to Rome or been exterminated. In early 210 Severus son Caracalla led an expedition north of the Antonine wall with the intention of killing everyone he came across. The plan was for Severus to follow his sons army and permanently occupy all of Caledonia, in 210 Severus became ill and went to York to rest and recover. He kept getting worse until 4 February 211 when he died, Caracalla then called off the war against the Caledonians and headed back to Rome to consolidate his power. The Romans never campaigned deep into Caledonia again, they withdrew south permanently to Hadrians Wall. Severus, accordingly, desiring to subjugate the whole of it, then, unable to walk, they would be slain by their own men, in order to avoid capture, so that a full fifty thousand died. But Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island, here he observed most accurately the variation of the suns motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively
36.
Caledonians
–
The Caledonians or the Caledonian Confederacy were a group of indigenous peoples of what is now Scotland during the Iron Age and Roman eras. The name is an exonym, the Ancient Greeks and Romans knew their territory as Caledonia, the Caledonians were initially considered to be a group of Britons, but were later distinguished as the Picts, a related people who nonetheless spoke a Brittonic language. The Caledonian Britons were enemies of the Roman Empire, which was the force then administering most of Great Britain as the Roman province of Britannia. The Caledonians, like many Celtic tribes in Britain, were builders and farmers who defeated and were defeated by the Romans on several occasions. The Romans never fully occupied Caledonia, though attempts were made. Nearly all of the information available about the Caledonians is based on predominately Roman sources, the Romans reached an accommodation with Brythonic tribes such as the Votadini as effective buffer states. According to Zimmer, Caledonia is derived from the tribal name Caledones, in AD83 or 84, led by Calgacus, the Caledonians defeat at the hands of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at Mons Graupius is recorded by Tacitus. Tacitus records the physical characteristics of the Caledonians as red hair and this suggests that they were capable of making formal agreements in unison despite supposedly having many different chieftains. He says the Caledonians broke the treaties they had made with Marcellus a few years earlier, the governor who arrived to oversee the regaining of control over Britannia after Albinus defeat, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from the Maeatae rather than fight them. Herodian and Dio wrote only in passing of the campaign but describe the Caledonians ceding territory to Rome as being the result, cassius Dio records that the Caledonians inflicted 50,000 Roman casualties due to attrition and unconventional tactics such as guerrilla warfare. By 210 however, the Caledonians had re-formed their alliance with the Maeatae, a punitive expedition led by Severus son, Caracalla, was sent out with the purpose of slaughtering everyone it encountered from any of the northern tribes. Severus meanwhile prepared for total conquest but was ill, he died at Eboracum in Britannia in 211. Malcolm Todd however considers there to be no evidence to support this, nonetheless the Caledonians did retake their territory and pushed the Romans back to Hadrians Wall. In any event, there is no historical mention of the Caledonians for a century save for a c. AD230 inscription from Colchester which records a dedication by a man calling himself the nephew of Uepogenus and this may be because Severus campaigns were so successful that the Caledonians were wiped out, however this is highly unlikely. The event is notable in that it includes the first recorded use of the term Pict to describe the tribes of the area, jordanes in his Getica wrote something similar. The inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair and large loose-jointed bodies. Eumenius, the panegyrist of Constantine Chlorus, wrote both the Picts and Caledonians were red haired. Scholars such as William Forbes Skene noted that this description matches Tacitus description of the Caledonians as red haired in his Agricola, there is little direct evidence of a Caledonian archaeological culture but it is possible to describe the settlements in their territory during their existence
37.
Hadrian's Wall
–
It had a stone base and a stone wall. There were milecastles with two turrets in between, there was a fort about every five Roman miles. From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum and it is thought the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry. In addition to the defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts. A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrians Wall Path, the largest Roman artefact anywhere, it runs a total of 73 miles in northern England. Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrians Wall is one of Britains major ancient tourist attractions and it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is a misconception that Hadrians Wall marks the boundary between England and Scotland. In fact Hadrians Wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo-Scottish border, while it is less than 1 kilometre south of the border with Scotland in the west at Bowness-on-Solway, in the east it is as much as 110 kilometres away. Hadrians Wall was 80 Roman miles or 117.5 km long, its width and height varied according to the materials available nearby.5 metres high. These dimensions do not include the walls ditches, berms and forts, the central section measured eight Roman feet wide on a 3 m base. Some parts of section of the wall survive to a height of 3 m. Immediately south of the wall, a ditch was dug, with adjoining parallel mounds. This is known today as the Vallum, even though the word Vallum in Latin is the origin of the English word wall, in many places – for example Limestone Corner – the Vallum is better preserved than the wall, which has been robbed of much of its stone. The A69 and B6318 roads follow the course of the wall from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, although the curtain wall ends near Bowness-on-Solway, this does not mark the end of the line of defensive structures. The system of milecastles and turrets is known to have continued along the Cumbria coast as far as Risehow, for classification purposes, the milecastles west of Bowness-on-Solway are referred to as Milefortlets. Hadrians Wall was probably planned before Hadrians visit to Britain in AD122, according to restored sandstone fragments found in Jarrow which date from 118 or 119, it was Hadrians wish to keep intact the empire, which had been imposed on him via divine instruction. The fragments then announce the building of the wall and it is entirely possible that, on his arrival in Britain in 122, one of the stops on his itinerary was the northern frontier to inspect the progress of the building of the wall. Theories have been presented by historians, mostly of an expression of Roman power and these troubles may have influenced Hadrians plan to construct the wall as well as his construction of limites in other areas of the Empire, but to what extent is unknown
38.
Bosphorus
–
The Bosphorus or Bosporus is a narrow, natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in northwestern Turkey. It forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia, and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey. The worlds narrowest strait used for navigation, the Bosphorus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and, by extension via the Dardanelles. Most of the shores of the strait are heavily settled, straddled by the city of Istanbuls metropolitan population of 17 million inhabitants extending inland from both coasts, together with the Dardanelles, the Bosphorus forms the Turkish Straits. This folk etymology was canonized by Aeschylus in Prometheus Bound, where Prometheus prophesies to Io that the strait would be named after her, the site where Io supposedly went ashore was near Chrysopolis, and was named Bous the Cow. The same site was known as Damalis, as it was where the Athenian general Chares had erected a monument to his wife Damalis. Historically, the Bosphorus was also known as the Strait of Constantinople, or the Thracian Bosphorus and these are expressed in Herodotus Histories,4.83, as Bosporus Thracius, Bosporus Thraciae, and Βόσπορος Θρᾴκιος, respectively. Other names by which the strait is referenced by Herodotus include Chalcedonian Bosporus, the term eventually came to be used as common noun βόσπορος, meaning a strait, and was also formerly applied to the Hellespont in Classical Greek by Aeschylus and Sophocles. Presently, the waterway is officially referred to as simply Bosphorus, the Marmara further connects to the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas via the Dardanelles. A common mistake made by those who are unfamiliar with the locale is to assume the Bosphorus is a river, when it is, in fact. The exact scientific cause and date of the formation of the Bosphorus remain the subject of debate among geologists, many geologists, however, claim that the strait is much older, even if relatively young on a geologic timescale. The Symplegades were defeated when the lyrical hero Jason obtained successful passage, whereupon the rocks became fixed, between these limits, the strait is 31 km long, with a width of 3,329 m at the northern entrance and 2,826 m at the southern entrance. Its maximum width is 3,420 m between Umuryeri and Büyükdere Limanı, and minimum width 700 m between Kandilli Point and Aşiyan, the depth of the Bosphorus varies from 13 to 110 m in midstream with an average of 65 m. The deepest location is between Kandilli and Bebek with 110 m, the most shallow locations are off Kadıköy İnciburnu on the northward route with 18 m and off Aşiyan Point on the southward route with 13 m. The study of the water and wind erosion of the straits relates to that of its formation, sections of the shore have been reinforced with concrete or rubble and sections of the strait prone to deposition are periodically dredged. These channels are the main pathway for sediments to the deep sea where they form sedimentary deposits. These deposits ultimately hold not only untapped reserves of gas and oil and our initial findings show that the flow in these channels is quite different to the flow in river channels on land. Specifically, as flow moves around a bend it spirals in the direction in the deep sea compared to the spiral found in river channels on land
39.
Praetorian Guard
–
In Ancient Rome, the Imperial Praetorian Guard or Praetorian Guard were a unit of the Imperial Roman Army formed of elite soldiers initially recruited in Italy. They were first, hand-picked veterans of the Roman Army in charge of providing close protection security details to the Emperor and they also served as secret police protecting the civic administrations and rule of law imposed by the Senate and the Emperor. The title designation was used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around year 275 BC. The Imperial Guard was dissolved by Emperor Constantine I in the 4th century and they were distinct from the Imperial Germanic bodyguard which provided close personal protection for the late Western Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, there was no permanent guard charged with the protection of general officers. However, certain military officers chose to surround themselves with guards to ensure their security, in the event of battle, these cohorts would intervene as a final standing reserve. The consuls were ordinarily protected by the lictors, who would remain around their tents in the army, at the end of the year 40 BC, Octavian and his rival Mark Antony both operated a number of Praetorian units organized individually. According to Appian, amongst them were veterans forming cohorts, Mark Antony commanded three cohorts in the Orient and in 32 BC, he issued coins in honor of his Praetorians. According to Paul Orose, Octavian commanded five cohorts at Actium, following his victory at Actium, Octavian merged his forces with those of his adversary in a symbolic reunification of the Army of Julius Caesar. The Praetorians constituted a guard and a military reserve of the Emperor. Through the machinations of their ambitious prefect, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, in 23, Sejanus convinced Tiberius to have the Castra Praetoria built just outside of Rome. One of these held the daily guard at the imperial palace switching roles in between patrols. Henceforth the entire Guard was at the disposal of the emperors, the reality of this was seen in 31 when Tiberius was forced to rely upon his own cohors praetoria against partisans of Sejanus. Although the Praetorian Guard proved faithful to the aging Tiberius, their political power had been made clear. At the siege of Numance, Scipio Aemilianus formed a troop of 500 men for his personal protection and this usage was then emulated and spread, as Roman generals occupied their positions for longer periods of time. Accordingly, this guard was referred to as Cohors Prætoria and they benefited from several advantages due their close proximity with the emperor, the Praetorians were the only ones admitted while bearing arms in the center of sacred Rome - the Pomerium. Under Nero, the pay of a Praetorian was three and a half times that of a legionary, augmented by prime additions of donativum, granted by the new emperors. This additional pay was the equivalent of years of pay, renewed during important events of the empire, or events that touched the imperial family, birthdays, births
40.
Damnatio memoriae
–
Damnatio memoriae is the Latin phrase literally meaning condemnation of memory, meaning that a person must not be remembered. It was a form of dishonor that could be passed by the Roman Senate on traitors or others who brought discredit to the Roman State, the intent was to erase the malefactor from history, a task somewhat easier in ancient times, when documentation was limited. Damnatio Memoriae was originally created by the Romans, who viewed it as a punishment worse than death itself, felons would literally be erased from history for the crimes they had committed. In a city that stressed social appearance, respectability, and the pride of being a true Roman as a requirement of the citizen. In Latin, the term damnatio memoriae was not used by the ancient Romans, the first appearance of the phrase is in a dissertation written in Germany in 1689. The term is used in scholarship to cover a wide array of official and unofficial sanctions whereby the physical remnants of a deceased individual were destroyed to differing degrees. In ancient Rome, the practice of damnatio memoriae was the condemnation of Roman elites, if the senate or a later emperor did not like the acts of an individual, they could have his property seized, his name erased and his statues reworked. Historians sometimes use the de facto damnatio memoriae when the condemnation is not official. Among those few who suffered damnatio memoriae were Sejanus, who had conspired against emperor Tiberius in 31 CE, and later Livilla. Elagabalus, a Third Century C. E. emperor who was widely disliked and it was difficult, however, to implement the practice completely. For instance, the wanted to condemn the memory of Caligula. Nero was declared an enemy of the state by the senate, while statues of some emperors were destroyed or reworked after their death, others were erected. Also, historians often wrote about the deposed emperors, finally, many coins with the images of the discredited person continued to circulate. A particularly large number exist with Getas image, according to the biblical story, when the ancient Israelites entered the land of Canaan, they were ordered to destroy several pagan tribes and their property. The tribe of Amalek was specifically singled out for destruction, yahweh would completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. To this day, the Hebrew Bible is the ancient source that attests the existence of the Amalekites. In ancient Greece, Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus to become famous, to discourage such acts, Ephesus leaders decided that his name should never be repeated again, under penalty of death. This attempt was unsuccessful, however, as illustrated by the fact that his name is still known today
41.
Alamanni
–
The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes on the upper Rhine river. In 496, the Alemanni were conquered by Frankish leader Clovis, mentioned as still pagan allies of the Christian Franks, the Alemanni were gradually Christianized during the 7th century. The Pactus Alamannorum is a record of their customary law during this period, until the 8th century, Frankish suzerainty over Alemannia was mostly nominal. But after an uprising by Theudebald, Duke of Alamannia, Carloman executed the Alamannic nobility, during the later and weaker years of the Carolingian Empire the Alemannic counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the Bishopric of Constance. According to Asinius Quadratus their name means all men and it indicates that they were a conglomeration drawn from various Germanic tribes. Other sources say the name derives from alahmannen which means men of sanctuary and not all men. The Romans and the Greeks called them as such mentioned and this etymology has remained the standard derivation of the term. Walafrid Strabo, a monk of the Abbey of St, the name of Germany and the German language in several languages is derived from the name of this early Germanic tribal alliance. For details, see Names of Germany, the Alemanni were first mentioned by Cassius Dio describing the campaign of Caracalla in 213. At that time they dwelt in the basin of the Main. Cassius Dio portrays the Alemanni as victims of this treacherous emperor and they had asked for his help, says Dio, but instead he colonized their country, changed their place names and executed their warriors under a pretext of coming to their aid. When he became ill, the Alemanni claimed to have put a hex on him, Caracalla, it was claimed, tried to counter this influence by invoking his ancestral spirits. In retribution Caracalla then led the Legio II Traiana Fortis against the Alemanni, the legion was as a result honored with the name Germanica. Not on good terms with Caracalla, Geta had been invited to a reconciliation, at which time he was ambushed by centurions in Caracallas army. True or not, Caracalla, pursued by devils of his own, Caracalla left for the frontier, where for the rest of his short reign he was known for his unpredictable and arbitrary operations launched by surprise after a pretext of peace negotiations. If he had any reasons of state for such actions they remained unknown to his contemporaries, whether or not the Alemanni had been previously neutral, they were certainly further influenced by Caracalla to become thereafter notoriously implacable enemies of Rome. This mutually antagonistic relationship is perhaps the reason why the Roman writers persisted in calling the Alemanni barbari, most of the Alemanni were probably at the time in fact resident in or close to the borders of Germania Superior. At that time the frontier was being fortified for the first time
